The Queen’s Royal Palaces are repositories of history and art as much as they are homes to the royal family. We look at the most famous of Royal residences
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of the UK’s sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors every summer. Buckingham Palace has an astonishing 775 rooms. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. In measurements, the building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep (including the central quadrangle) and 24 metres high.
While many believe that Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s primary residence, it has been reported that the Queen has likely stopped living in the palace, recent years having seen her settle near-permanently in Windsor. As the writer and royal biographer Penny Junor told The Daily Beast: “Buckingham Palace is a head office. It’s huge, impersonal, not cosy at all and she has never felt at home there.”
Kensington Palace
Another working Royal residence, not far from Buckingham Palace, is Kensington Palace. It boasts historical importance, as Kensington Palace was the favourite residence of successive sovereigns until 1760. It was also the birthplace and childhood home of Queen Victoria.
It has been the official home of the Queen’s grandson and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, since 2017. Following their marriage in 2011, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge used Nottingham Cottage (a house in the grounds of Kensington Palace as their London residence. They moved into the four-storey, 20-room Apartment 1A, the former residence of Princess Margaret, in 2013
